


Coming Down With Something

by WithoutForesight



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Mild Angst, Mild Fluff, Mild Illness, Misunderstandings, Multiverse, On the surface, Post pacifist, Pre-Relationship, give Edge a break he’s sick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:47:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25477924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WithoutForesight/pseuds/WithoutForesight
Summary: Another prompt request from over on tumblr!  For katsmagicbag“Here, take my blanket/jacket.” - “I told you, I’m not cold.” *shivering*
Relationships: Papyrus/Papyrus (Undertale), Spicyhoney
Comments: 10
Kudos: 27





	Coming Down With Something

Out of the many things that differed between the Undergound and the surface, Autumn had to be one of the most unique. The Summer offered its heat, akin to Hotland, and the Winters not unlike Snowdin, but Fall...

The temperatures evened out somewhere between balmy and chilly, perfect for his preferred sense of style which more often than not involved jackets and pullovers, plush sweatpants and jeans.The vibrant colors offered by Spring and Summer were not quite as welcoming as the vivid, earthy hues of early sunsets and falling leaves.And even as the temperatures dropped, every bakery and coffee shop boasted a wide selection of toasty, spiced beverages to keep you warm.It almost seemed as if the scent of cinnamon and cloves always lingered in the crisp, woodsy air. 

It was unlike any climate that could be easily found in their old dwelling grounds.And he quickly found it to be his favorite of the seasons.So when Blue had asked, with big hopeful eye lights, if he’d like to help them set up for the Fall Festival in Carain Park, well, it wasn’t a repulsive idea by any _stretch_ of the imagination.

That didn’t stop him from feigning disinterest enough to earn a little bribery from his older brother.Though a ride to and from and a pumpkin spice latte isn’t exactly _driving_ a hard bargain, now is it?

He’d had no idea who else would be here, hadn’t asked, all he knew was that the embassy had really been pushing their whole “part of the community” stick into all of the higher-ups’ eyes lately, so it wasn’t all that surprising to find the park teaming with almost equal parts humans and monsters.

No, the surprising part was who all that included.And boy was he glad he wasn’t the one tasked with poking sticks in those particular eye sockets.

Red and Edge were close to being the last monsters he’d expected to see milling around amongst the others, carrying tent posts and equipment to and fro like roadies for whatever late year emo music festivals might be coming to town, in their black coats, black pants, black gloves, and the barest splashes of red, presumably just for the aesthetic. 

In some part of his skull, he knew logically it made sense.They, or well, Edge at least, worked in some facet of public service.He wasn’t sure what he did exactly, and had even less of an idea of what faction Red worked with, but that wasn’t the type of rabbit hole he particularly fancied jumping in today or anytime in the near future.Especially not given how well he’d dodged being wrangled into working alongside them.

Politics were not his thing.Neither were desk jobs or...or really anything professionally social.Of course, he would have assumed the same of Edge.It was hard to picture the oh so fearsome Great and Terrible in a three piece and coordinating tie sat behind a desk for any longer than approximately 30 minutes.On a good day.

And yet.

Nah, that was a mental image he’d ponder when he had more free time.

To see Rus and Toriel hustling about, though, that wasn’t too much of a plot twist.And when Blue called out a greeting in their general vicinity, obviously a simple wave wouldn’t suffice.

“Lazy-me!”Marching over with as much enthusiasm as you’d expect from a bounding puppy, Rus began his boisterous greeting just over halfway to them, “Have you come to assist us as well?Hello, blue Sans!”

“yup,” tipping his coffee in greeting, Stretch offered a casual wave in kind to Toriel’s.She had wisely held her position, helping set up a tent in line with a row of others.

“Where can we start?”His eye lights glowed brilliantly as Blue bounced on his heels, already getting distracted by everything around them.

“Lady Asgoriel and I have been expertly aiding the humans in setting up the tents for the raffles!I don’t know where my lazybones of a brother has gotten away to, but red Sans and Edgy-me have been helping with the stage!Really anywhere you’d like to start is a good place to!”

Nodding in the general direction of the parking lot opposite the one they’d used, Rus clapped his hands together, “The human park director is also by the house-cars, if you’re so overwhelmed with excitement you can’t decide where to start for yourselves!!”

While Blue and Rus excitedly exchanged a few comments and compliments on how everything was coming along, Stretch scanned the park.From one side to the other, and farther out than could be seen with the naked eye (or socket), the expansive chunk of land was admittedly larger than he’d remembered.

If one followed the sidewalks away from the streets, it would eventually lead to Ebott River, but how far that really was, he didn’t know.There were waterfront activities listed in the pamphlet Blue had handed him in the car on the way, so it couldn’t be too far, right?

Musing on just how much work they had ahead of them, he’d missed whatever Rus had asked him, only coming to thanks to the tiny elbow prodding his rib cage lightly.

“Bro?”

“oh, heh, sorry.i’m fine just followin’ your lead, baby blue.”

Ignoring Blue’s exaggerated groan at the nickname, Rus clasped his hands over his hips triumphantly, and it wasn’t until the words left his mouth that Stretch realized he’d made a tactical error.

“Excellent!!I’m sure red Sans and Edgy-me will appreciate the help!Four skeletons is better than two, as I always say!Or at least did just now!”

Keeping a placid smile on his face, Stretch would argue he hid his inner sigh of defeat quite well.Red wasn’t so bad, but Edge?Edge wasn’t exactly sociable on the best of days, let alone in a loud, crowded area, chalk full of humans, partnered with Stretch’s very special brand of dedicated annoyance.

No matter how hard he tried, it seemed his foot would always inevitably take up part time residency in his mouth any time they were around each other.He always managed to say the wrong thing, always managed to misstep, always managed to crawl under the metaphorical skin of the Fell monster with the same ‘Really, I’m Supposed to be Here’ attitude as his foot, and geez, if he was gunna spend this much time being a pain in the ass, the least he could do would be to offer up some rent or something.

Before he could back pedal frantically, his sweet, loving, genuine brother was unforgivingly pulling him in the direction of a few humans toting looms of cords.A flicker of betrayal crossed his mind when he realized this was probably by design.Blue had been egging him on to make more of an effort to get along with the third share holder of the name Papyrus, even going as far as convincing Rus to set up movie nights for just the three of them.

Which backfired almost immediately, given that Edge could rarely make it, due to ‘work engagements’, and that, he could only imagine, translated roughly into ‘No, thank you, I have better things to do with my weekends, like watering the cat and brushing the plants’ or whatever.

At least it was nice to hang out with Rus.Sometimes the kids even came and hung out, or Sans joined in.Though that wasn’t really the point.

The point was, the stage in view, and Blue showing no signs of remorse, he was going to have to bite his tongue for the next however many hours and hope he could get through the day stepping on as few toes as physically possible.

So much for enjoying a nice fall day out helping Sans and Alphys separate raffle tickets.

Maybe he could talk Blue into letting him volunteer to be the test dummy for the water dunking tank.

“heya, blueberry, pool noodle, what’s up?”

A familiar, lilted voice sounded from behind them, jarring him out of his daydream of getting submerged into arctic temperature waters as Blue quickly spun to face their friend.

“Red!It’s good to see you!Sans owes me ten bucks!”

The skeleton’s eye light rolled as he barked a laugh, “nice to know someone’s got a little faith in me.”

Trying, and hopefully succeeding, to come across as though he wasn’t just fantasizing about not having to deal with either of them, Stretch rolled back onto his heels.

“think his faith lies a little more in your bro’s ability to boss you around.”

That earned him a chuckle from both of the fun sized skeletons, Red offering a shrug as well.

“fair enough.”

“Well if you both have so much faith in my ability to ‘boss others around’,” flinching at the gravelly voice once again catching them from behind, Stretch shared a brief guilty look with Red, who seemed annoyingly unfazed, “then you won’t mind me assigning you both a set of tasks.”

“Not at all!That’s what we’re here for!”Blue chimed pleasantly, as if he hadn’t been laughing at the joke as well.

Doing his best not to shrink too deeply into his hoodie, Stretch turned to offer his most nonchalant smile to the piercing red gaze and solemn frown locked firmly on him.Edge wasn’t even really glaring, it had taken Stretch a good few months to realize that he actually just looked like that.But he wasn’t exactly jumping for joy to see them, either.

“Good.Blue, help my brother get the lighting rig secured and operable.Stretch,” did his voice seem to strain just now? “start by helping Jude and El finish retrieving the speakers from the van in the east parking lot.”

Following Edge’s gesture, he found two humans chatting animatedly as they walked a dolly in the opposite direction from them.

“And once you’re both done with your tasks, find me.There’s plenty to do and I’ll have more to give you by then.”That hint of tension melted from his voice, shifting more into what Stretch imagined had been his ‘Captain Voice’ back underground.But before they could get started, Edge held up a hand in pause, coughing into his free hand for a moment before clearing his throat.

“And thank you.Both of you.Having monsters with the ability to perform blue magic is a great asset in a project this large.With all of us here, we’ll be able to cut at least a full day of prep work from the schedule, and the vendors will actually have a decent amount of time to settle in before Thursday.”

Blue all but glowed, ready to prove they could exceed that prediction, while Stretch...well, he embarrassingly only blinked in stunned silence while Blue vocally confirmed his excitement.Edge offered no prod, no snarky comment about being surprised to see him here, as a matter of fact, he didn’t even really acknowledge Stretch at all outside of assigning his role.

And with that, the skeleton turned and marched back to whatever he’d been doing before coming to greet the newbies.It wasn’t exactly jumping, but it was definitely more agreeable than he usually saw the monster.

“You’re gunna catch flies, Py.”Red snorted his amusement at the fond reprimand from his doppelgänger, and Stretch quickly wiped the surprise form his features, “We’re gonna get started, okay?Call if you need anything!”

Blue waved over his shoulder as he turned to follow Red toward the stage, and with that, they were gone, leaving Stretch alone with his thoughts.A very dangerous game to play indeed.

Instead of further trying to psychoanalyze the brief, amicable interaction they’d shared, Stretch decided if he wanted to stay in Edge’s good graces, it was probably wise to actually do what he’d been instructed.So without further ado, he started in the direction he’d last seen those two humans disappear.

East parking lot...van...one step two steps, and on the third, he was there.He suspected the ‘I Know A Shortcut’ joke might be lost on the strangers, so he opted to appear nearby and walk to close the distance.

Though he didn’t remember their names, they were happy to introduce themselves.Both on the younger side, and both plenty friendly enough with the idea of working with a monster.Of course they’d be, he chastised himself, Edge knew them by name so they had to have worked with him.They were literally working to set up a gig in a park teaming with them, so if they had a problem with that, then line up the Oscars because these two were grade A actors.

Between the three of them, and a borrowed second dolly, all of the rigs and speakers had been emptied out of the large, mostly unmarked black van within the hour.The pass hooked in the windshield allowed the vehicle to be parked closer, so when the volunteers jovially asked if he wanted to join them on a break to drink soda out the back of the now emptied van, he barely hesitated.

Jude and El.He liked those names, and they seemed rather tickled by his own nickname.Doubly so when Red’s worn voice broke through the shuffle of the busy parking lot, “hey!pool noodle!corps ain’t payin’ ya by the hour!”

They exchanged twitter handles, not that he ever really used his, and he was back to it.First, he sought out Red from the general direction the call had beckoned from, but he promptly reminded Stretch, “i know it’s easy to mix us up, what with the family resemblance and everything, but i’m pretty sure my bro told you to find _him_ , yeah?”

And so now Fall had turned to Spring, because finding Edge turned out to be way more of an egg hunt that he’d anticipated.Heh, Edge hunt.

Yeah, he’d keep that one to himself.

Although, he did find Sans.He’d been napping in a prop canoe that was going to be used in a game booth.

Refraining from asking around, he stuck with following his intuition, checking around all of the varying parts of stage construction, heading back to the west parking lot to see if he was talking to the park director, and even bumping into Astilbe (the nickname the Asgore from his own world had chosen still not the first to come to mind when seeing him).

After somewhere around a half of an hour, Stretch was coming to terms with the fact he just wasn’t going to be able to find the monster on his own when something urged him to check by the trailers in the west parking lot.

And if his golden goose wasn’t there, he might just be tempted to sneak a smoke break in the sparsely populated area.This little unwarranted game of Where’s Waldo had managed to deplete what little energy he’d been trying to reserve for actual help.

Already resigned to the failure, he was fishing the nearly full pack from his back pocket when the sound of a sharp coughing fit almost jolted him into dropping it.Purposefully muffled and further masked under the buzz of activity not too far from there, if he hadn’t heard the sound check performance earlier he might have missed that those rasping breaths could belong to nobody else but-

“edgelord?”

Peaking his head around the side of the (currently vacant) security trailer, sure enough, the Fell monster was stood, or rather, leaned against the back of it, forearm held firmly in front of his face as he viciously suppressed another onslaught of coughs.

Taking a few tentative steps closer, he could see the sheen of red perspiration coating Edge’s skull, and once he was finally able to turn and properly glare at Stretch, the dark smudges under his eyes looked considerably worse than he’d noticed earlier.

Fixing his posture, Edge smoothed his coat as he cleared his throat again, completely ignoring the uncertainty on his visitors face, “I take it you’ve gotten the speakers set up, then?”

He hadn’t realized before, but it was painfully clear now how much more ragged that already worn and torn voice was, and Stretch couldn’t help but internally scold himself for not realizing sooner.

“yeah...yeah, uh...you’re not looking so hot, edgelord, i think maybe you should call it a day.”

Scoffing harshly, Edge’s face screwed up properly, broadcasting just how viable that option was to him, “Abso _lutely_ not.I’m fine, I’ve worked under worse conditions before.”

Edge made the unconscious mistake of stepping closer, revealing that the shaking of his shoulders hadn’t just been from the coughing.A very slight shiver was just barely apparent, and it was also more clear now just how glassy his normally brilliant eye lights looked.

“you’re cold,” he offered dumbly.

Edge was sick.Somehow, it seemed impossible, and even just thinking it felt wrong.Like seeing Santa take out a loan at the bank, or Count Dracula taking a Benadryl for seasonal allergies.He seemed too...too...something.He was too something to be sick.

“I am _not_ cold,” and now he just seemed like a toddler denying he needed a nap, “now, if you’re done pretending to understand my limitations-“

Blinking out of his mystified haze, Stretch automatically started removing his outermost layer of tops.He was wearing two long sleeved shirts and a tank top under his hoodie, after all, he could spare a little warmth for the normally hot headed skeleton.

“What are you-“

“here, take my jacket.it’s like, four sizes too big, it’ll probably fit over yours, too.”Right now, his inner mother hen was admonishing Edge for coming out in only a Summer-y leather jacket zipped over what he assumed to be a standard t-shirt, and of course the scarf he was never seen without, but his inner him knew full well Edge’s body temperature ran well above normal on most days.

On days he wasn’t coming down with something nasty.

Crossing his arms with thinly veiled fury, Edge’s tone dropped right into those arctic levels of freezing in the dunk tank waters as he ground out, “I told you, _I’m not cold._ ”

And yet, his shaking shoulders (and now his hands wanted to join the party) seemed to disagree with that notion.

Retracting the offending garment, Stretch eyed it for stains, shaking it out two times and even pressing it against his face for the deep breath test.Smelled fine, and he’d even thankfully gone for one that had just recently been through the wash, so it really was as clean as it looked.Edge only watched with a twitch in his socket.

“it’s clean, really!i promise it lives up to the edgelord test of cleanliness, and you know i don’t make promises i can’t back up.”Extending it once more, he even threw in his most innocent smile, free of charge.

Those faded eye lights tapered suspiciously, looking at the jacket, then to Stretch, then the jacket, then once more to Stretch, eye sockets narrowing to the point of looking closed.

“What are you doing?”The hissed question was followed promptly by a sneeze strong enough to wave his balance, forcing Edge to reach back out to the trailer to stabilize himself as a fine dusting a pink blushed across his face.

Stretch instinctively moved to help him, but caught himself, shifting back to give him the space to recover himself while he shuffled his feet.

“i’m...offering you my hoodie because you’re,” _don’t say sick_ , “cold and won’t go home?”

He honestly thought that part had been pretty straightforward.

But for whatever reason, Edge ground his teeth further, now barely contained rage sparking magic around his clenched fists.

“Yes, and?What are you really doing?Trying to force me to carry on dealing with others wearing something that you clearly showed up in?!What’s your goal, how is this going to embarrass me, aside from being seen in something so obnoxiously colored?”

For probably close to a full minute, Stretch stood there, staring at the near-fuming skeleton monster, trying and failing to parse the truth behind the questions that had been whisper-hissed to him from an illness strained voice.

He thought it was a prank.

And it wasn’t until Edge snarled impatiently, rubbing a hand down his face to collect himself that Stretch realized he was supposed to have an answer.

“i-“

“Forget about it.We have work to do.”Pushing past him, Edge started back toward the park when a fit of blind stupidity urged Stretch to action.

Grabbing his wrist, he spun Edge back to face him, not realizing that he would also be dizzy under these circumstances, and practically pulled the monster on top of himself, both falling backwards against the wall of the trailer.Edge immediately pushed himself off Stretch, anger reaching a peak as his eye lights regained their vividness, morphing into furious slits.

“ _What in the hell is wrong with you!?_ ”

“i just wanna help!” And he could see the razor sharp retort already forming behind those just as sharp teeth, but for once, in the entirety of the two, almost three years they’d known each other, he was damn well going to make his point.

“i know you feel shitty, okay?i know you’re sick and you don’t wanna admit it because that’s just how you are!you don’t ever wanna slow down, you don’t ever wanna take a break, you don’t wanna go to movie nights, and you don’t wanna waste time on stupid pointless shit, but guess what, asshole!your health isn’t pointless shit!”

Throwing the hoodie at his nonplussed counterpart, he threw his arms out to his side, his own buried frustrations unearthing themselves in ways even he didn’t expect.

“i know i don’t understand what things were like in your universe, okay?i know i won’t ever really ‘ _get it_ ’, and i know i can be an asshole sometimes, a lot of the time, and i know i like messing with you because it bugs you so much!but no one here is out to get you!”

“in case you haven’t clued in, every one of us actually cares about you, even me!you can be an asshole a lot of the time, too, but even assholes get sick and even assholes feel really shitty and want to ignore it to help their friends and their family and the stupid park vendors!so i’m sorry if me offering you my jacket upset your delicate sensibilities or whatever, but could you just swallow your pride for like, five god damn seconds and realize that i’m not some scheming, evil antithesis of you?!”

Breathing heavily, he hadn’t realized he’d started yelling until he really took in Edge’s face.And boy, was that an image he didn’t need imprinted on his memory forever.

As if his unshakable mental image of the impervious Great and Terrible Edgelord hadn’t already been shaken enough, seeing him staring back at Stretch, of all monsters, wide eyed, brows screwed up in an miserable furrow, frown twisted up in a way that looked uncomfortably similar to one someone on the verge of tears wore, well that was just the nail in the coffin, wasn’t it.

Edge finally averted his shrunken eye lights to scan the hoodie he was still sheepishly clutching in his hands, narrowing his eyes enough to imply he was recovering from the initial shock, but not really helping the whole close-to-tears thing the rest of his face was trying for.

Okay, if Edge started crying, Stretch was gunna have to throw himself in the dunk tank because at that point, this would have to be some really, really weird dream.

Luckily, though, his expression leaned away from misery and more toward remorse, and when those crimson lights flicked back up to meet his gaze, one might say he even looked a bit embarrassed.He looked away again, so Stretch took the chance to make up for the unwarranted outburst.

Sighing, he rubbed the back of his neck, “i know you don’t feel well, so that’s gunna make you even more cranky than usual, but i also know you’re not gunna go home, so would you at least use that to keep warm...for my sake?”

Edge sent him a curious look for that.

“i don’t wanna see you making it worse.”

Once again, he looked away, mulling Angel knows what in that scarred head of his.At least Stretch hadn’t made him cry.

But despite his plea, Edge sighed, stepping forward to hand the jacket back.Stretch took it, trying not to feel too defeated, when finally, Edge cleared his throat.

“I...appreciate it.But perhaps you’re right.I may be...pushing myself more than I need to, which will only drag this out.”

Okay, maybe he was gunna head for the dunk tank anyway, because this wasn’t really happening.

“If I text a list to my brother, he’ll make sure everything on it gets accomplished.And perhaps I can return tomorrow, in more...” giving himself a once over, Edge adjusted his scarf, “appropriate attire.”

Was it the third or forth time today Edge had gotten him staring in bewilderment?

“For now, though, I suppose I will head home.”

The step he took toward Stretch snapped him out of his shock, only to be sent back into it as Edge rested a tentative hand on shoulder.

“Thank you, Stretch.”

They lingered a moment, and he was close enough yet again to see just how exhausted the monster really looked.Underneath the complete and total dumbfounded feeling, a slight sense of relief bubbled up as Edge finally walked away, headed further into the parking lot and away from the park.

Whatever the hell just happened, he realized Edge was outlined in the colors of the sunset.All shades of red and yellow and orange, peaking out from the greys and blues of the cloudy sky, matching the pavement littered with fallen leaves.It was much later than he’d thought,he should be getting back to helping the others.

And yet...

He found himself fixated on watching Edge’s figure as it grew smaller and smaller, eventually lost in the sea of humans and monsters and vehicles, all bustling around.No one else had seemed to notice him as he ghosted through, and for a fleeting moment, despite everything, it felt like they were the only two in the entire park.Maybe the entire world.

It was a strange feeling, and it left him almost wanting to chase after the other.Make sure he got to his car, got home, maybe start a shower for him and make sure he got something to eat before going to bed and not just sitting and spending the night doing paperwork, and-

And...he really needs to stop asking for two extra shots in his lattes.Sheesh.

Blinking back to reality, he lifted the hoodie still clasped in his hands, looking it over like it might be able to tell him a little more about what the hell had gone down.But alas, articles of clothing offer little insight into the curious minds of ridiculous skeleton monsters.

And honestly, he wasn’t sure if he meant Edge, or himself.

Shaking his head, he slipped the hoodie back on, making his way around to the other side of the trailer and back toward the park.Maybe tomorrow, he could figure something out.

Yeah, this was definitely a tomorrow Stretch problem.Today Stretch was going to have to settle for helping Blue and Rus haul boxes of inflatable rings to the gaming tents until the mosquitoes inspired the humans to call it a night.

Maybe he couldn’t make sure Edge was taking proper care of himself, but if he accidentally mentioned to his brother that Edge was lookin’ a little worse for wear today, well, he wouldn’t be responsible for what conclusions said fussy brother came to, now would he?

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve considered alternate titles for this one, including Fall Breeze and A Fair in the Park
> 
> Come hang out at my [spicyhoney blog](https://dumbgaybabylmao.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
